This is a treasury created just yesterday with some interesting stories behind it (Big Peeps and Little Peeps). I can remember one Easter my three sisters and I each receiving little chicken peeps. One grew up to be a rooster and would sit on the end of the ironing board while my mother was ironing or he would ride around on the back of our big, black german shepard.

I have always loved birds… I like to think of them as baby angels… and have rescued several when I was a girl. A favorite was a baby robin named “Frank” (why Frank???… haven’t got a clue). I found him after a storm and hand-fed him with “cat food” (how funny!) soaked in water. I would let him out everyday and play with him and eventually taught him how to fly. The day came to let him free and I threw him up in the air and he flew away. I thought that was the last I would ever see of him. Right before dinner I was standing out in the yard talking with my mother and all of a sudden Frank was sitting on my shoulder. So that became our daily routine. I would let him loose in the morning and he would return right before dinner to sleep in his cage. I guess he just felt safe there.

Later as an adult, I was gifted with a pair of finches. I lived in an apartment building and soon fell in love with the sound of the little peeps and right before Easter was gifted again with a nest of eggs. The babes were born and it was such entertainment to watch the incredible intelligence of the parents in how they instinctively knew when to “push” their young ones out who were afraid to take their first flight. I had to learn to not pick up the babies they literally pushed out of the nest (I would put them back in and out they would come again). In this case the babies were sick and the parents were protecting the rest of the nest. The parents worked in shifts and shared the responsibilities of raising the young. I soon purchased my first home and expanded my aviary to several breeds of finches, then canaries and parakeets. Each had their own personality and unique way of relating. The canary would sit on my finger and sing away while pecking at his reflection in my nail polish (he loved the bright red).

I could go on-and-on with more bird stories. I wanted to share these stories with you along with the treasury. Enjoy and appreciate those little baby angels.